Above is the only photo that I have left of my time in Vietnam. Im on the left as you face the photo. The other Marines name, the mind has blocked out. The photo was taken at Bravo Battery 11th Marines. At that times it was southwest of DaNang just off Anderson Trail. The flag, we got off some VC that we had captured. The mind blocks out names but some events come back to haunt the mind.

Theres a book out on Charlie 1/1 part of Operation Medina. The title is LIONS OF MEDINA. You have Hotel 2/1 part of the story on your website. And the story about the Corpsmen relates to Golf 2/1.

My platoon had the point of our two company columns. Names, are hard to remember, not so the events of 18 October 1967. When the shooting started at the rear, a few mortar rounds were fired towards the area the NVA thought we were located at.

Making all those trips with our four men teams didnt tire us. But a bit later when we got everybody out, I started shaking like a leaf. I think it was from coming down from that high my body had created. If somebody contacts me, maybe a name might shake my memory.

At that time, I was 27 years of age, now im over 71. At times I would think why did I survived and the other Marines die. Now with all these new returning veterans, we might be of help to them. To deal with the same issues, we dealt with after Vietnam.

I almost forgot...

It was two battalions of the 1st Marines Charlie and Delta of 1/1 and Golf and Hotel of 2/1 thus making one battalion for the operation. Throw in the company for the 3rd Marines along side of Operation Medina, the ARVNs were running their own operation. In fact the NVA that left the area of Operation Medina. Ran into the ARVNs. Seeing that it was late in 1967, the unit/units that had been in that base camp. Might have been moving the areas for Tet of 1968.

My birth certificate says Ricardo, everything else including my time in the Corps is under Richard in Nam and while I was in Golf 2/1 I had the rank of a Staff Sergeant. I think, I was one of the youngest Staff NCOs.